Stay in touch with your classmates and peers
1961 / 1971 / 1977 / 1978 / 1979 / 1980 / 1981 / 1984 / 1985 / 1987 / 1989 / 1990 / 1991 / 1992 / 1993 / 1994 / 1997 / 1998 / 2000 / 2001 / 2002 / 2003 / 2006 / 2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2015 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2023 / 2024
Note: Years bolded indicate reunion years.
1961 | 65th Reunion
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Arnold Zack MPA received the 2024 E.A. Sanders Award of the Massachusetts Bar Association for pioneering contributions to the field of dispute resolution. He developed the Due Process Protocol for the Mediation and Arbitration of Employment Disputes, which he initiated in 1994 and 1995 as president of the National Academy of Arbitrators. The protocol assures worker protections in resolving statutory workplace disputes and now protects some 60 million non-unionized workers throughout the United States. The protocol was signed by the American Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the National Employment Lawyers Association. This employment protocol was adopted in 1998 for resolution of consumer disputes (Consumer Protocol) and health care disputes (Health Care Protocol).
1971 | 55th Reunion
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Martin Gold MC/MPA presented his first solo photography show in February 2025. The show, a reflection of his travels (113 countries and the 50 U.S. states), started after HKS with an around-the-world ticket from the Ford Foundation to write what became a book on Sri Lanka, with a foreword by Gunnar Myrdal. Martin later served as the chief attorney for economic development and as the director of corporate law for the city of New York. The first project was South Street Seaport, the last was Times Square. During that seven-year period, he received five governor-signature pens for authoring new laws (one legalized compound interest, another authorized the use of requests for proposals in certain procurements). Thereafter, during three decades at the global law firm Sidley Austin, Martin represented cities, states, Puerto Rico, and corporations in complex public-private real estate and infrastructure projects (e.g., airlines, waste management, power). Beginning in 1989, he added teaching to his portfolio, joining Columbia as an adjunct professor of architecture, planning, and preservation and an adjunct professor of law.
Mark Thompson MPP has this year published “World War II Battles Reconsidered: Game Theory and Decision Science Perspectives on Gazala, El Alamein, Falaise and Arnhem.” The book cites and owes much to the mentorship of iconic HKS professors Graham Allison, Howard Raiffa, and Richard Zeckhauser.
1977
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Robert Anthony MC/MPA was recently honored by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) for his 36 years of service as an Oklahoma Corporation commissioner. When he retired in January, he was the longest-serving utility commissioner in the United States.
1978
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Robert Lande MPP writes, “As I was in the process of retiring from teaching at the University of Baltimore School of Law, my school organized a Festschrift in my honor. The daylong conference was titled “The Quest for Progressive Antitrust,” and its proceedings were published as a 514-page commemoration of my scholarly career. It can be found in the University of Baltimore Law School’s Law Review, 53 U. Balt. L. Rev. 1 (2024).”
1979
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Dean Pineles MC/MPA shares that after a lengthy legal and judicial career, both domestically and internationally, he is now an active writer. His memoir is called “A Judge’s Odyssey: From Vermont to Russia, Kazakhstan and Georgia, Then on to War Crimes and Organ Trafficking in Kosovo” (Rootstock, 2022). Dean’s writing, which focuses on his legal and judicial experiences at home and abroad, has been published in numerous journal and newspaper articles, book chapters, and online publications. He lives in Stowe, Vermont, with his wife, Kristina, and keeps active with cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, biking, golf, and gym workouts. He also enjoys Vermont’s fabulous craft beers. He says, “Kristina and I have been fortunate to travel around the world.”
Susan Goodwillie Stedman MC/MPA is doing what she can (at 83) to save our democracy, bring the chaos, corruption, incompetence, and gratuitous cruelty of the current regime to an end, and help imagine/create a more effective, inclusive, helpful government that will serve all of our people. She is hugely proud of Harvard’s standing tall and firm in response to the absurd assault on its independence. She is also happily newly married (having been widowed twice) to a dear old friend of 65 years who’s been in the UK for the last 50. They live in Maine (where she’s been since 1994) from May through October and in (the other) Cambridge from November through April. They love their delightful bicontinental life!
1980
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Ken Young MC/MPA returned to Maine post HKS after 2 1/2 years in D.C. at US EPA. Ken’s work spanned public and private jobs, including deputy commissioner at Marine Resources, commissioner at Environmental Protection, lobbying, consulting, regional planning/economic development, city council, school board, library trustee and chair. Ken has traveled extensively throughout the United States and in Italy, Eire, and Germany, visiting family and friends. Ken writes, “Experiencing firsthand the effects of migration prompted by the pandemic and climate change—surging real estate prices, affordability constraints viz: non-residents, political polarization, uncertainty, anxiety, unpredictability. As everywhere, it is a challenging time for all of us.”
1981 | 45th Reunion
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Richard Paton MC/MPA and Zoraida Carballeira MC/MPA celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary in July. Richard was deputy secretary at the Treasury Board of Canada and then headed a business association for 19 years. He taught master’s-level management courses part time for 35 years at Carleton University in Ottawa, inspired by his HKS experience. He also wrote three management textbooks and a dozen cases. Richard writes, “Thank you KSG for a great education and an amazing wife. We are now full-time grandparents for three wonderful boys.”
“There is too much intellectual property theft by Chinese entities … . But also, nobody can look at what China is doing today and deny that China is also one of the major innovators in technology in the world today, in artificial intelligence.”
Rana Mitter
S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations
1984
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Kevin Howley MPP recently accepted an appointment as vice president and chief financial officer of Henry Ford College in Michigan. Kevin previously served in a similar role at Lake Forest College in Illinois.
1985
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Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty MC/MPA is editing two public policy volumes with HKS alumni and one historiography of art volume with Routledge; advising the government on setting up museums dedicated to the anti-colonial freedom struggle of Indigenous groups; and collaborating with NGOs on climate-resilient ecosystem services to fulfill SDG goals.
Maria Nuria De Cesaris MC/MPA has been living in Barcelona, Spain, since 2021. She is enjoying the city so much and she is happy to receive the visits of friends and classmates. Maria is engaged in voluntary work with Meals4Hope, an NGO that provides care to malnourished children in Venezuela. Meanwhile, she has begun, little by little, to write about her experience of more than forty years, living and working as an urbanist in Ciudad Guayana, a city created in 1961 in Venezuela.
Jim Shultz MC/MPA is pleased to announce that his new book, “Lessons from Lockport: Dispatches from the Great American Divide,” is out. For ten years, in the United States and around the world, people have been asking: What is going on in small-town America that has given rise to Trumpism? Jim’s book, drawn from eight years as a local columnist in conservative western New York, offers some important answers to that question.
1987
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Lauren Saunders MPP received the highest award for consumer advocacy from the Consumer Federation of America. An associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, she was presented with the Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award in recognition of her extraordinary advocacy on behalf of consumers.
1989
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Richard Opper MPA has transitioned from making a living solving problems related to the redevelopment of toxic urban property to making a life telling stories. This August marked the release of the last volume of his fictional trilogy about Mona Oakheart, titled “Oaks from Acorns Grow.” Set in 1973, in San Diego, and inspired by a young woman he met there, the book tells the arc of an unusual life—from working in the sex trade to (spoiler alert) a scholarship to law school.
1990
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Hollis Robbins MPP is a professor of English (formerly dean of humanities) at University of Utah, and at work on three book projects. Hollis will be at Harvard as a fellow with the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research during AY 2025–2026.
1991 | 35th Reunion
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Nicolás Hernández-Castilla MPA has just seen his first novel published, in Spanish, by Editorial Almuzara. “Mi Nombre es Cualquiera” (“My Name is Anyone”) is a moving novel about the love story between a Syrian Jewish doctor and a Turkish Muslim nurse, through which the author seeks to build bridges in our terribly fragmented world.
Daniel Owen MPA continues to be based in Kinshasa, DRC, as operations lead for social development at the World Bank.
1992
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Juliette Fay MPP’s eighth novel came out in August 2025 from Simon & Schuster. “The Harvey Girls” follows two young women who work as waitresses at the Grand Canyon in the 1920s. Juliette and her husband, Tom, live in Wayland, MA, and are celebrating their 35th anniversary this year.
David Shactman MC/MPA’s first fiction book was published in June. “Mortal Choice” is a murder mystery about the illegal market for kidneys and explores what moral decisions a parent is willing to make to save the life of an only child. Previously, David was co-author of “Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care: The Inside Story of a Century-Long Battle.”
1993
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David Medina MPP’s first published book, “Shakespeare’s Greatest Love,” tells the true, uncensored love story of William Shakespeare and Henry Wriothesley, third earl of Southampton. Relying on historical and literary evidence hidden in plain sight, this work demonstrates that Shakespeare wrote more of his plays and poems for and about Southampton than anyone else—works that are sexually charged, romantic, and homoerotic. It also chronicles the evidence that Southampton provided Shakespeare the support he needed to secure his acting company share, coat of arms, family residence, royal commission, life portrait, and funerary bust.
1994
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Michael Putegnat MC/MPA just published his third novel, “Hunting Tobias.” The opening scene is at Harvard. “You all better read it. You may be in it!”
1997
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Liz McKeon MPP serves as programs director, planet, at IKEA Foundation, a philanthropy committed to putting human well-being at the center of worldwide efforts to limit global warming by reducing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Liz was granted Dutch citizenship in 2024 (now dual U.S./Dutch). Liz really enjoys connecting with committed philanthropies and partners to transform energy, transportation, food, and built environment systems equitably.
Nessa Richman MPP is the executive director of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council. She recently had an article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled “Sharing Meals: Food systems leadership as a pathway to civic engagement.”
1998
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Charles Hokanson MPP writes, “In addition to leading a consultancy based in Tampa focused on elevating the effectiveness and governance of nonprofit organizations and their boards, I’m in my fifth term serving as chair of the board of Hostelling International USA, advancing America’s nonprofit youth hostel movement, and am also serving as co-chair of Teach for America’s Central Florida region. Between finishing a yearlong Pahara Fellowship, joining the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and completing a certificate in interim nonprofit executive management, I’ve indulged my love of travel by visiting over a dozen countries and hiking over 18 U.S. and Canadian national parks over the last few years.”
Alison Moses MC/MPA shares that writing her memoir has been an unexpected process of recall. She was surprised by the depth and detail of the memories that surfaced—particularly the names of individuals and places that shaped her life. The experience revealed how much of her personal history remains intact. She never expected to conduct research—reviewing dates, locations, and even reaching out to others—just to ensure accuracy in recounting certain aspects. Documenting herself was fascinating and it added a layer of rigor she hadn’t anticipated, but it proved essential to telling the story faithfully. She hopes to publish soon with the hope that it will offer insight into a life lived across many times and places.
2000
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Felicity Spector MC/MPA just published her first book, “Bread and War: A Ukrainian Story of Food, Bravery and Hope,” an on-the-ground account of the Ukrainians who keep their country going during Russia’s war. Felicity spent all her time away from work during the last three years volunteering around Ukraine with the small charity Bake for Ukraine.
Paul VanDeCarr MC/MPA is preparing to publish “Write for Good,” an online handbook on social-impact communications, along with other resources for year-round learning. He’s looking to partner with social-impact funders, schools, NGOs, and U.N. agencies.
2001 | 25th Reunion
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Kent Lucken MC/MPA was named a new trustee for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation ahead of Los Angeles’ plans to host the 2028 Summer Games.
2002
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Buzz Jacobs MPP, former White House advisor (Bush 43) and three-time presidential campaign strategist (McCain, Rubio), has released his new book, “Prepare, Launch, Win: The Ultimate Playbook for Victory.” Drawing on 25-plus years of battle-tested experience, the book provides a clear, actionable guide to achieving victory in politics, business, and other high-stakes arenas. In early February 2024, it achieved Amazon Best Seller and #1 New Release status.
Marco Kamiya MPA/ID is enjoying his role as the United Nations’ UNIDO representative in Jakarta, serving Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines. While traveling, he is working on his new book.
Donna Tesiero MC/MPA is pleased to announce the recent release of her latest book, “Six Nations Diplomat: Molly Brant and the American Revolution,” by McFarland & Company.
2003
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Christoph Denk MPA left the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development after a very rewarding management career to focus on family (young and old) and build a portfolio career. He continues to live in London and travel frequently to Germany and Switzerland where he teaches a course at the University of St. Gallen.
2006 | 20th Reunion
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Steve Grove MPP published a new memoir, How I Found Myself in the Midwest: A Memoir of Reinvention. From making new friends and building a family to reconciling with his past and exploring his faith, Steve’s journey to find purpose by going local provides a roadmap for anyone looking to discover what gives meaning to their life. Along the way, Steve shares insights about a part of the country that many people ignore at their peril, and why he is optimistic about America’s future.
Yousaf Haroon HKSEE is now a chartered public finance accountant (CPFA) of Chartered Institute of Public Finance (CIPFA) UK. Based in London, CIPFA is the only professional accountancy body in the world exclusively dedicated to government finance. CPFA is an internationally recognized designation for those wishing to practice government accounting outside the U.S. and for U.S.-based international institutions. Rutgers Business School of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, has partnered with CIPFA; graduates of the Rutgers master’s in governmental accounting program can also qualify as CPFAs. In a recent U.S. News & World Report, Rutgers Business School ranked No. 1 in the United States for online accounting master’s programs.
Markus Scheuermaier MC/MPA is back in Southern Africa after three years in Papua New Guinea as the International Finance Corporation’s country representative for Botswana and Lesotho, based in Gaborone. Markus writes, “Karine and our children, Nicolas and Clara, still live in Johannesburg, which has for all purposes become home by now.”
“The challenge that you’re seeing, … especially with DOGE, is what we call the ‘preparedness paradox.’ Which is essentially the better we are at anticipating the disruption and responding to it, the harder it is to justify that investment.”
Juliette Kayyem
Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security
2010
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Nizar Farsakh MC/MPA has had a busy year! Nizar writes, “I’ve consulted on a few issues including conflict resolution factors applicable in Palestine, effective and efficient protocols for operating Gaza border crossing post war, and mechanisms for deliberative democracy for Palestinian Americans. With Sandy Dang MC/MPA 2010, I’ve continued training civil society leaders on public narrative through our website www.InspireLeadershipSchool.com and started adapting AI to enhance learning. Finally, I’ve been getting many requests from media, academic, and religious institutions to comment on Palestinian affairs since the Gaza war. Hence, I am now focusing more on speaking on Palestine issues.”
Jan Gerhard MC/MPA now heads the Federal Republic of Germany Office of Defence Administration, USA and Canada, based in Reston, Virginia. Jan shares that coming back to the United States is a great privilege and he hopes to see many classmates and friends in the Washington, D.C., area again. He and his family are looking forward to welcoming former classmates in their new home.
2011 | 15th Reunion
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Shahab Ahmed HKSEE is lucky to have his career and personal travels take him around the world. For the past year, he has been the chief legal officer for Binary Holdings, which is based in beautiful Bangkok but operates across the world. Shahab is loving the authentic nature of Asia and its food and beautiful cultures. He recently completed a book on international corporate law, which can be found on Amazon: “How To Be the Best In-House Lawyer in the World.” “[This] is bound to be an exciting year! Thanks to all friends and family for support and love.”
Mattea Kramer MPP, a drug policy journalist researcher from Amherst, Massachusetts, authored “The Untended” (She Writes Press), which is a gritty novel that puts Katniss Everdeen into “Euphoria” and humanizes mental health and drug addiction. “The Untended” was inspired by Mattea’s small New England hometown, where she worked with women at the local correctional facility and covered the opioid crisis as a journalist. The book is dedicated to the women who are incarcerated at that local jail.
2012
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Piper Kamins MPP is a “solo parent by choice” of a 2-year-old son and lives in Los Angeles, where she works in philanthropy. In these challenging times, she is grateful for everything people are doing to create community, connection, and kindness!
2013
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Leila El-Khatib MC/MPA was awarded the King Charles III’s Coronation Medal for her contributions to the Canadian federal public service. After a decade of writing briefing notes that could put anyone to sleep (but were technically brilliant), she is now dreaming beyond Canadian borders. She is on the lookout for international opportunities where she can put her public sector experience to good use—ideally somewhere with less snow and fewer acronyms! Whether it’s a U.N. agency, NGO, or something unexpected, she is ready for a change in scenery and time zone. Leila writes, “If you’re working abroad, have tips for how to pivot overseas, or just want to swap travel stories, let’s chat. The passport’s ready, and so am I!”
Mike McMahon MPP and his wife, Megan, welcomed their second daughter, June, into the world. Together with June’s big sister Grace, they are all living happily outside of Chicago in Evanston, Illinois.
2015
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Danny Gal MC/MPA is excited to announce the publication of his book “The Belonging Paradox: How to Solve the Global Empathy Crisis.” The book explores the tension between the human need to belong and the desire to remain unique—a dynamic Danny argues is at the heart of many personal, organizational, and societal challenges. Drawing from his experience in peacebuilding, NGO leadership, and organizational consulting, the book offers a call for empathy-based leadership in a fractured world. Danny welcomes connections with fellow alumni interested in this work or in hosting conversations around the book.
Giang Hoang MPP founded HKG Energy to develop next-generation silicon materials for high-performance batteries used in EVs, energy storage, consumer electronics, and robotics. HKG Energy has successfully created their own proprietary nanomaterial design and recently moved operations from South Korea and Vietnam to Greentown Labs in Boston, North America’s largest climate-tech incubator.
2017
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Rishan Mohamed MPA launched his second startup, HiringCoach.ai, a platform to help international development professionals land their next roles with the help of AI feedback at every step of the application process. It is by far the most fulfilling work he’s ever done. In June, Rishan had the honor of presenting to the global staff of 21 U.N. agencies on how to use AI to amplify their global impact during their first Inter-Agency Career Week. He also recently volunteered in his parents’ native Guyana, helping organize one-day medical clinics in underserved communities through the international nonprofit Humanity First, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy and the U.N. International Organization for Migration.
2018
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Naresh Perinpanayagam MC/MPA finally wrote his e-book! He writes, “It’s called ‘How To Get a Job at the United Nations.’ It’s based on my 15 years at the U.N., including as an advisor who recruited staff for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. It’s a practical guidebook aimed at helping young professionals and mid-careers navigate one of the world’s most complex and competitive hiring systems. If anyone in the HKS community happens to read it and has more questions or needs specific advice, please get in touch.”
2019
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Stefan Chavez-Norgaard MPP just finished his first year on the faculty at the University of Denver’s Korbel School, where he is teaching MPP students courses in urban policy, ethics in public policy, policy writing, and public policy analysis. His research is focused on urban development and state/local politics and policy. Stefan writes, “If you’re ever in Denver, please reach out. Perhaps more importantly, my wife, Bianca, and I are expecting our first baby this June!”
Shen Zheng MPA welcomes to the world Winston, his new baby boy! May his life be filled with endless love, joy, and wonderful adventures.
2023
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David Corbie MPA supported the creation of Harris County’s first-ever climate justice plan as the county’s climate justice manager. Harris County, located in Texas, is the third largest county in the United States. The climate justice plan was passed on April 10, 2025. It will serve as a roadmap for addressing climate justice issues for communities in the greater Houston area.
Kei Sakai MPA/ID has come back to the United States (Washington, D.C.,) after spending two years in Japan, where he worked for the Defense Ministry after earning his MPA/ID. He’ll be at the embassy for the next three years, focusing on topics such as public finance, economic policies, and international development. On a personal note, he is excited to reconnect with HKS friends and community in D.C., as well as explore the dance scene there.
2024
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Andrés Cano MC/MPA was appointed to represent District 5 on the Pima County Board of Supervisors on April 15, 2025. He now represents more than 250,000 residents in Tucson, Arizona. Prior to his graduate studies at Harvard Kennedy School, Andrés served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023, including as House minority leader. Most recently, Andrés was director of federal and state relations for the city of Tucson. Andrés, 33, is a first-generation college graduate. He will seek election to the Board of Supervisors during a special election in 2026.
Farid Hannan MPA/ID has been appointed director general for economic affairs at the Mexican Foreign Ministry. In this role, he will lead national efforts to promote exports and attract foreign investment, with a strategic focus on boosting economic activity in Mexico’s lagging regions. Farid brings experience in international development and economic policy, positioning him to deepen Mexico’s global economic ties while ensuring that the benefits of trade and investment reach the country’s most underserved areas. His appointment reflects the government’s commitment to inclusive growth and leveraging diplomacy to drive economic transformation at home.
Safi Mirza MC/MPA joined Amazon as international tax manager for Canada, overseeing tax planning, policy engagement with the government of Canada, and integrating AI into the company’s tax operations. The role blends public policy, innovation, and cross-border strategy in a fast-paced environment. This year also brought opportunities for meaningful travel—Safi visited Morocco and Croatia for the first time, both rich in history and beauty.
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Photography by Bethany Versoy